Image Credit: Landmark/PR Photos; Solarpix/PR PhotosWarner Bros. announced via press release this morning that director Christopher Nolan has cast Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle in his third and final Batman opus The Dark Knight Rises. For those who don’t know their Batman lore, Selina Kyle is Catwoman’s alter-ego, although curiously, the press release makes no mention of the word “Catwoman.” And in something of a surprise, Nolan also announced today that his Inception actor Tom Hardy will play the villain Bane, a more recent addition to Batman’s storied rogues gallery. He made a big splash in the Batman comics by breaking Bruce Wayne’s back in 1993. Hardy’s participation in The Dark Knight Rises has been previously reported (although never confirmed by the studio until today), but the widespread speculation was that he’d be playing Hugo Strange or Clayface.
Read more:
‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Burning Questions: Where’s Talia? Will Catwoman show up? And will Bane break Batman’s back?
‘The Dark Knight Rises’ casting: New candidates for Batman’s love interest… and nemesis?
Will Tom Hardy be playing Hugo Strange?
‘The Dark Knight Rises’: Which superstar actresses should Christopher Nolan cast?
Who will be Batman’s next movie nemesis? Catwoman? Clayface? Maybe even… Superman?
‘The Dark Knight Rises’; the Riddler doesn’t
‘Batman 3′ to begin in April
*jaw drops*
This is VERY interesting…
I agree. I’m curious to see where this goes. If this were anyone other than Nolan, I would be hesitant about this. But I have faith in his filmmaking abilities.
Exactly. I remember thinking at first that Heath Ledger was an odd choice to tackle The Joker, but we all know how that turned out. I completely trust Nolan. Everyone he’s ever cast has turned out to be an inspired choice (except for Katie Holmes, but I’ll let that one pass!).
I’m terrified. Hugo Strange just seemed so perfect for Tom Hardy. I love the Bane comic storyline but I’m not sure how it fits with the TDK/BB world.
Let Nolan do his thing.
I don’t get the Katie Holmes bashing. She was good in Batman Begins.
She was better than Maggie Gyllenhaal
i hated maggie gyllenhaal, she’s so homely, katie holmes was better, but honestly, nolan is genius, just not with casting female leads (except for inception)
I’m with all of you, I trust Nolan with this. Hardy was beyond entertaining in Inception and I’m look forward to seeing him work with Nolan again.
Have they announced that this will be in 3D yet?
No 3D, Nolan does not like it, so it’s only IMAX
You mean I won’t get to see Anne Hathaway’s 8008ies swinging around in more than 2 dimensions? Fail!
Tom Hardy has a very sexy voice and kissable lips, and not a bad physique and has a lot of sex appeal. I’m surprised he didn’t become more famous sooner.
Agreed. I was not expecting Anne Hathaway…and I definitely wasn’t expecting Bane. Which is a good thing. Weirdly enough, I can totally see Anne as Catwoman aka Selina Kyle…but I hope it won’t be cheesy. I trust Nolan.
I was hoping that Anne Hathway was going to play Lois Lane in the Man of steel. She is one of the few actresses that I think could have played Lois and really gotten the character. So I’m sort of sad that now she’ll be Selina. She seems more like Lois Lane than Selina Kyle to me. But oh well. Hope they can still find someone good for Lois now that Hathway is going to be out.
I always find that I agree with Liz Lemon. I was hoping for Black Mask but I can see Hardy getting into Bronson shape for Bane. I’m interested to see the Nolanised version of the character. I had my heart set on Eva Green but well done to Anne Hathaway too.
Linda Cardellini (Freaks and Geeks/ER) for Lois Lane!!
Where Michelle Pfieffer was able to play Selina as nervous and Catwoman as “intense”, I think Anne will play Selina as “nice” and Catwoman as “cold”. Maybe he’s casting for the fourth one, which will have a new Batman, but perhaps carry other characters over (but please, not directed by Joel Schumacher! He just did NOT get it)
@ Caracticus
Fourth one? The article said this would be Nolan’s last Batman film, didn’t it? Whether or not the Batman actor is the same, “third and FINAL” generally means just that: Final.
But I’m just going off of what the article said, feel free to correct me if you have more accurate info.
There will likely be more more than 3 movies. The studio, not Nolan, owns Batman. Nonetheless, I highly respect and admire what Nolan’s done with all of this. I read recently that Darren Aronofsky might be tapped to pursue the series. He certainly has the ability to work with intensity. Guess we’ll see.
Anne Hathaway, yum. Gives double meaning to the title “Batman Rises”.
ew.
My bat signal is lit already.
She looks more like the Joker
megalolz
Ahahahahaha!
HA!
Seriously? Are you twelve?
Can anyone say FLOP?!?!??!
No, but we can say TROLL
Yeah, the last installment only grossed $1 billion. This franchise is sooooo dead.
You must of been one of the people who scoffed when heath ledger was casted as the joker……
I think, Tom Hardy is hot and bisexual. I would go see this movie just to see him in it. LOL
Ledger was SOOO over-rated in that role. Please, it wasn’t nearly half as impressive as people make it out to be.
After his death I thought it got blown up a bit but I wouldn’t say it was so overrated. A little overrated.
Ledger was far from overrated. But you know what’s overrated? People saying his performance was overrated after his death.
I want to drink Anne’s bathwater. Great choice!
yeah…. that’s not at all creepy
jo, I heart you.
No, what would be creepy is if he said he’d sniff her toilet paper.
What is interesting is the reference to ‘Selina Kyle’…. Is there a possibility that Nolan may simply borrow from the catsuit/cat burglar thing and modernise the character?
Really liking this idea.
EW PEEPS, I know ya’ll going murder me but I gotta say it. Nolan is just ok. Some of you guys act Like he’s “the second comming” (LOL), while others want to have children(Including males). My advice, take each movie a director completes 1 movie @ a time. So that when it bombs you don’t go n kill ya self. PEACE!
What are you, Chase? Fourteen? Quick trying to sound like a typical Facebook, thug-lite wannabe. PEEPS & PEACE? Really?
@ chase: Now now. Positive thoughts, please
. Mr. Nolan’s had a pretty good track record so far, right? Why would we be waiting for him to BOMB? He and Wally (cinematographer) and Co. took it up a notch higher with INCEPTION. Hope and pray he takes it higher with TDKR 
.
Yes, I didn’t expect Bane at all. Anne as Catwoman I can see, but Bane? Well, we’ll just have to see how Nolan pulls it off.
I think it’s terrible casting. Nobody went to see Love and Other Drugs after knowing Anne Hathaway would be naked and having sex scenes with Jake Gylenhaal a lot in the movie. People don’t think of her as sexy because she’s not.
Thank you! Anne’s not a terribly impressive actress and I’m personally not looking forward to her in the Selina Kyle role. In fact . . . she’s kind of a bad actress. Hardy’s totally hot, though.
Allie, I don’t agree.
I think the reason Anne Hathaway gets a bad rap is because she’s typecast a lot. She made her big break in Princess Diaries, and she’s been playing girly, fluffy roles (mostly) since then. There have been a few exceptions of course, like Rachel Getting Married. But I think she can do it, I think she’s a better actor than people give her credit for, and that’s due to the typecasting. Plus, I haven’t seen a Nolan film that’s been terrible yet, so I’ve got faith in him too.
hooray.
Tom Hardy is SOOOOOOOOO HOT!!!!!!!!!!!
My jaw dropped too! Interesting choice. I love Anne (though I do have a bit of a hard time picturing her as Catwoman, if that’s where they go with the Selena storyline). Should be good.
I have a hard time picturing Catwoman in Nolan’s Batman universe at all so I’m hoping they just leave her as Selena Kyle.
Really? Catwoman seems to be one of the most easiest to fit in to Nolan’s interpretation. Technically, she has no super powers, no super natural forces behind her, and she is just a thief. In all honesty she is too perfect for Nolan’s universe. At least with Bane there is a little work with it.
She just seems too campy. Same could have been said of the Joker too though.
Anne Hathaway is a poor choie for Catwoman. If your remember “Ella Enchanted” her dance and fighting skills are best suited for a comedy.
Idiot comment.
That movie was, what? Seven years ago? Anne Hathaway has come a LONG way since then.
LOL totally agree w/ the Ella Enchanted comment, Thomas
How about Get Smart? Great fighter, well suited for comedy. And I do mean that as a complement.
@ Thomas: Remember when everybody said Heath Ledger was a poor choice for Joker? That’s why we watch and let the filmmakers do their thing w/ choices and selecting. Remember, she auditioned against what sounds like some pretty stiff competition. Nolan saw something that fit HIS vision of the character that she delivered on. Let’s trust him and see what she does first!
Well this increases the odds we will see the smart, devious Bane, and not the ridiculous monstrosity from B&R.
although that Bane summed up that movie quite well when he repeateadly said “BOMB”
Word.
Hahahahahaha! markinnyc, you old sport
In the Nolanverse, Bane willo be wearing a suit.
I thought the same thing (although I never saw Batman and Robin; I could tell I wouldn’t like it, so I never bothered). Bane is a very interesting (and intelligent) character in the comics.
Agree. Comic-verse Bane is a completely different character than both the cartoon and movie versions. Comic Bane is a genius and kind of the anti-Joker in that he’s completely logical and a master strategist whereas the Joker was an anarchist who liked to mess with the heads of the “schemers.” I’m kind of hoping they go with the Bane erroneously believes his long lost father was Thomas Wayne plot point.
Disappointing. I was hoping for Hugo Strange, that would have fit better into the mythology the second movie left us at (with Batman being a villain). And isn’t Bane a little too much fiction for the Nolan universe? Plus, I’m not a big fan of Bane, too 2-D when compared to other Batman villains (though I never read the comics, someone could correct me on that Bane was more than incredible muscle)
He was brilliant. A master tactician and managed to figure out who Batman was. He released all of Batman’s villains from prison/Arkham and then when Batman was exhausted he broke his back. He is a huge muscled character too. He takes a super steroid to become strong
Ah I didn’t know that, thanks Maxx. I heard about Batman breaking his back from a friend of mine, but I didn’t know about the master tactician part. That’s more interesting than the Bane I was originally familiar with.
Exactly! ‘B&R’ completely wasted him.
B&R wasted a lot of things…money, characters, our time…
Whoa. She definitely doesn’t have the look to me. Her features are too pronounced to have that demure look about her when she’s being Selina.
I would’ve preferred Keira or someone like that, but Anne’s a good actress so we’ll see what she comes up with.
Anne was demure in ‘Devil Wears..’ at first.
She was pretty demure in “The Princess Diaries.”
After suffering through Katie Holmes in the first one, and a capable (but not extremely sexy) Maggie Gyllenhaal for the second one, I’m just glad to have a talented actress cast and not some flavor of the moment or vapid hottie.
I agree she isn’t someone I would think of to play Catwoman but he’ll probably change her storyline up some, so who knows, Anne is probably the perfect fit. I trust Nolan.
I don’t mean the way she acts, her facial features are all so large and in your face. Catwoman is more subtle.
Hmm…interesting choices. Can’t wait to see the movie and see what Nolan does for the final installment.
Agreed! I think Anne Hathaway could end up being an inspired choice for Catwoman. I am definitely looking forward to this one!
OMG! I love Tom Hardy, he’s very hot!
BANE = WRESTLING SINGLET
TOM HARDY + WRESTLING SINGLET = SMOKING HOT
He doesn’t just wrestle. I think Nolan will probably focus on Bane’s back story…how he grew up in a prison and murdered someone at age 8. And how the prison did experiments on him…and the fact that he has to inject medication every 12 hours to get his superhuman strength will be really cool to see. I think it’s a smart move by Nolan. It would have been cheesy/repetitive to see villains like Mr. Freeze, the Penguin, the Riddler, etc again.
And who knows…maybe one of those will make an appearance as well?
@ LIZ LEMON. As long as the Prison had showers. As long as the experiments were done to him nude. As long as he is shirtless when he injects his medication… se where I’m coming from on this?
@Strepsi: Lol. Yeah. I see…and I agree.
And Nolan will end his trilogy as a Bat-tragedy. Awesome.
That’s the part I like.
Ugh! I hope not. Wasn’t Dark Knight depressing enough! It’s called Dark Knight Rises not Dark Knight Breaks.
No problem at all seeing Anne as Selina Kyle. Excellent casting choice. She’s got more range than many give her credit for having. As for the character of “Bane,” I hope that Nolan is going to substantially deviate from the comics, because the character of “Bane” was one of the worst villains in Batman history. Not known for much in the way of dialogue, he really was just there to break Bruce Wayne’s back and give us a year of other people playing at being Batman while Bruce healed. In “Batman and Robin,” “Bane” had no dialogue whatsoever other than grunts.
I disagree with your characterization of the comics’ Bane. He knows six languages, has a photographic memory, and according to Ra’s Al Ghul, has “a mind equal to the greatest” he’s known. He also was able to figure out Batman’s secret identity. Read his current characterization in The Secret Six. That’s a Bane I’d like to see.
It is interesting that Ra’s Al Ghul, Batman’s first nemesis in this series, states that. Maybe he’ll be part of the League of Assassins started by Ra’s. I too am hoping for the smart, calculating Bane, because as any comic fan knows, Bane is far more interesting that just breaking Batman’s back. I’m excited for this!
Maybe Ra’s Al Ghul had only ever met Snooki, and so Bane was smart in comparison
Agree. The Bane in Secret Six is the perfect way to portray the character in the movie. That Bane is smart, commanding and actually very sympathetic in his attempts at redemption and not using his venom.
catwoman?? reallY? like the character hasn’t been done to death and really isn’t that interesting as a villain. I was hoping for Talia.
Yeah as if Batman in general hasn’t been done to death either. Yet look what Nolan did with that.
yet batman being the star is infinitely more an interesting character than catwoman hence the other part of my statement stating she isn’t that interesting as a villain. Pay attention William
Sorry, wtf, but Catwoman’s character will endure for a long, long time. Her hypersexual persona (erupting from the repressed Selena) is the canvas upon which sexual politics gets painted era after era. Nine lives, indeed, chum.
You’re right Catwoman has been done before, but not by Nolan. I think he’s going to have a different approach to the character. I think she will already be Catwoman when the story begins. She will probably be smarter and more cunning. Either way, I just want to see this freakin’ movie. lol.
yeah, thank goodness the joker was not done to death before Nolan used him huh? Oh wait…
I hope there’s no catwoman that story is old and tired.
Well . . . once again, I don’t quite understand the choice of Anne for Selina Kyle. But I didn’t understand the choice of Heath for the Joker, and he did well. She’s a good actress . . . I guess. Hopefully, she’ll surprise me.
Better choice than freaking Kiera Knightley!! At least she has some meat on her bones! ::shutter at the thought of seeing that much of Keira’s boney skeleton frame::
You can gain weight, but you can’t change your face.
Yes, and . . . ? Is Keira’s scrunched up 12 year-old face more attractive than Anne’s face? I don’t see why. Both are equally attractive in the face.
But Anne’s more attractive in the body.
Good point. I remember when the Heath Ledger announcement was made, and I just scratched my head. But he turned out awesome. Maybe Anne will work. We’ll see.
Interesting…
I wholeheartedly apologise to all of the hundreds of people who suggested Bane as a villain in the last year. I’m sorry. I was wrong.
I hated Catwoman in Batman Returns and Halle Berry’s awful interpretation too, but I trust Chris Nolan. I didn’t think there could be a better Joker than Jack’s, but was proven wrong. Anne Hathaway is an odd choice, but that’s what I like about it. It seems perverted. That’s got me excited. Bane? Really? We’ll see….
I have a feeling Chris will start the story with Catwoman/Selena Kyle already in existence. So, we won’t see that same, old sequence of her becoming Catwoman. I think that will make it work.
I’m not familiar with Bane, but I looked him up and his story fits Nolan’s Batman perfectly. It’s intriguing, dark, twisted, and realistic.
You must have bad taste. Michelle Pfeifer’s Catwoman portayal was incredible and that film is underrated IMO.
Catwoman in Returns was great and stole the show. I even like the 9 lives thing that, had it been explained AT ALL and explored more in relation to Batman’s relationship with death (he survived it, but 9 lives is also 9 deaths for her) and had they explored what dying actually does to her rather than just shooting her a bunch of times, it would’ve been amazing. As it stood, it was still great and Pfeifer was an excellent Selina.
yeah and there would never ever be anyone who could be a better joker than Nicholson right? Except Ledger took the role and BECAME the joker.
I trust Nolan as long as there is no Katie Holmes he can do no wrong.
I didn’t say no one could ever do Catwoman (or Joker, for that matter) better.
But, since you bring Joker up, I don’t think Ledger became Joker at all. He became a bland sociopath who didn’t even believe his own hype. His Joker had zero sense of style and next to no humor or cleverness in his kills.
Yes, I’ll see this because I like the Batman mythos, but I don’t like that Nolan is so driven to make all of the villains bland terrorists and psychos. His Batman doesn’t feel like a superhero either, but just a cop or spy in a batsuit. I’m certainly not saying let’s make Batman movies like Schumacher did, but Burton had the tone, feel, and universe right (minus Batman killing people). That’s what I’d like to see more of.
I trust Nolan’s work. He has been spot on so far. If like the previous movies Nolan takes Frank Miller’s vision of Batman like he did heavily in Batman Begins borrowing from Frank Miller’s Batman Year One: then Anne Hathaway as the prostitute turned cat burglar Selina Kyle will be awesome.
well i agree with you on the catwomen spin off, and few people could top jack, batman returns catwomen kicked ass, while not being femme fatale